For the pair, the sport that rules the state of Alabama is more than a pastime. It's a way to connect on an even deeper level than just being father and son.

They play together for the Huntsville Rockets, a semi-pro football team, spending weeks together on and off the field.

"To be able to do it on this level, it's a blessing," Graham said, wiping away tears. "It's amazing just to have that opportunity to not only just be linked at the hip as father and son, but as teammates.

"I get to go out to war with this man. It's a battle, and to know that he has my back on the football field, also lets me know that in life, I will always have that soldier, that comrade, with me no matter what."

The 44-year-old Battle always wanted to make football his life. Highly coveted as a high school prospect, he signed with Auburn, only to tear up his knee as a freshman.

Further personal struggles with drugs and jail time pushed football out of the picture, until the opportunity to play again emerged as semi-pro teams started in Huntsville.

And now, a couple of decades after his Auburn dreams fell apart but with his life in order, he takes the field with the son he's grown so close to.

They've been joined before by another of Battle's three sons, Schavion Graham, who left the team to finish up a master's degree at Auburn this year. The three helped capture the 2012 BCS Semi-Pro National Championship.

Battle already had one ring with the Rocket City Titans, the first semi-pro team he played for, but winning one with his children meant much more.

"It's just a whole 'nother level to be able to be on the field with them and to share in it," Battle said. "There's a camaraderie, a fellowship on that field that you don't get anywhere else. It's blood, sweat, tears, and it's all together.

"A football team is a family. To be able to do that with your children, it's something else. To know the pain of running those sprints, sharing in that drive and being able to push yourself. To be with them, it makes a connection even stronger. It's even more than that. It's hard to find the words for it."

That's not to say that the two haven't butted heads, literally or figuratively. As a noseguard, Battle is often up against Darius, an offensive linesman who played at Tuskegee, in practice.

"I'm working on that daddy thing," Battle said. "Once we went up against each other and I hit him and he made a noise. I was like, 'You alright, son?' He said 'Daddy, that's just a football noise!' "

The two frequent community events with the team, hoping to better the lives of others through football as it's done the same for both of them.

"To see the father that he has been to me, it really shows me the father that I would like to be to my children, the example that I would want to show," Graham said. "It's wonderful."